Thoughts on Discipleship (Part 2 of 2)

GUEST POST From time to time, we have special guests whose voices we totally love sharing with you. This is a post from Seth Collins, he is a bearded man with a heart of gold who currently serves on staff at Yale Chi Alpha. HIs wonderful wife Brooke, used to live in DC and work with Chi Alpha, so even as we root her on, we miss her deeply! You can follow him on Twitter and Medium.

Find Part 1 here: http://bit.ly/29Gm91o

It was late November and around 11pm on a Friday night. I was getting ready for bed after an exhausting week of study and ministry. Scrolling through Facebook to get one last glimpse of what my Facebook friends were up to, I received a group message notification from my small group. One of the guys decided that it would be a terrific idea to go hiking up a mountain to catch a meteor shower... 

At 11pm. In November.

Being an introvert, my initial reaction was to say, "You guys have fun; I'm calling it a night." But, then I recognized that it would be my co-leader's birthday, and I didn't want to be that guy who bailed out when everyone else didn't. 

So, I put my warm clothes on and got in the car to go on this nocturnal adventure. Even though the hike to the top was just over a mile, it was much harder to get there because 1.) it was dark and we had to use our phones to see where we were putting our feet, and 2.) there was ice on the rocks that we would be walking across. 

What was I getting myself into?

Several minutes later, we're at the top and the wind was just ripping through us. It was so cold. We all clung to the rocks as best we could, trying to find some kind of shielding from the wind. At first, I thought to myself, this is crazy; I could be home right now in my warm bed. 

But then I looked up and saw the stars. 

The night firmament was incredible. I'd never seen so many stars in my life!

We started counting how many shooting stars we saw as we watched them race across the night sky. I think we lost count at around 15.

Before we made the trek back down to warmth and security, a couple of the guys from the group had hiked up the mountain with provisions: one guy had a grill strapped to his back. Another had a bag of charcoal and a dozen eggs. They were on a mission to scramble some eggs and enjoy the co-leader's birthday before heading back down!

We ate, traveled back down, and drove home.

I could have missed all of that if I'd chose to stay at home. I could've missed the memory, the laughs, the frozen chatter, the blanket of stars, and the eggs! But I went because God sometimes reveals His character and nature in such a way that reading a textbook can't fully convey. You have to get out and engage people! Engage the world around! The disciples were role models in such endeavors and, because of their companionship with Jesus and their actions, they helped change the world we live in.

The third aspect of being a small group leader is actually my second point.

2. Mentorship

I don't know if I can say enough about one-on-one discipleship (or sometimes referred to as mentorship). I love it. If there were one aspect of ministry that I could do for the rest of my days, it would be this. 

Through mentorship, I learned how to process life with students on an individual basis. The space and meeting would create an atmosphere that would allow them to ask more personal questions that they might not feel comfortable with asking in a small group setting. 

They would often ask questions about my life or how I handled a certain situation. This would create inner-reflection on my part and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the graces that I'd forgotten about or didn't appreciate as much. A perk for being in a mentoring relationship! 

Again, being an introvert, it's tough to engage a crowd, but a one-on-one setting is entirely different. Sure, there's always small talk to get through, but when you get to the deep stuff, then it gets exciting!

Mentorship created a deeper need to be vulnerable with the young men I was meeting with. By modeling vulnerability, I allowed the student to be as vulnerable as I was allowing myself to go. I couldn't ask them to do something that I wasn't willing to do myself. (Note: you should have wisdom in what you're willing to share. No need to air all your dirty laundry, but having something on the clothesline helps build rapport with your mentoring relationship.)

Mentorship also created deeper friendships. Five years later, I'm still good friends with the co-leaders I led my first small group with. I'm still friends with some of those guys that were in the group. I've been in one of their weddings, I've had a weekly home when I served as Interim Director for VCU Chi Alpha from one of them, and nearly all of them have been so impacted by my involvement with Chi Alpha that they have supported me financially.

You can go down the street and ask someone else what discipleship means to them and they could give you a totally different answer than what I just did. But, for me, small groups and mentorship are the key elements of building a discipleship culture: a culture that invites both insiders and outsiders to engage in the God-man, Jesus Christ, and to follow His teachings and lifestyle.

Published on July 14, 2016. • Short Link: http://bit.ly/29KZKsd

Thoughts on Discipleship (Part 1 of 2)

GUEST POST From time to time, we have special guests whose voices we totally love sharing with you. This is a post from Seth Collins, he is a bearded man with a heart of gold who currently serves on staff at Yale Chi Alpha. HIs wonderful wife Brooke, used to live in DC and work with Chi Alpha, so even as we root her on, we miss her deeply! You can follow him on Twitter and Medium.

 If there's one thing that Chi Alpha has taught me that I'm going to take with me for the rest of my days, no matter where I may end up, it's discipleship.

Growing up in the church, this was something that was not practically taught for me. Sure, I'd heard the stories from scripture how Jesus called the twelve and made them disciples. But, I had no idea what that process looked like or how they had earned that title. I eventually settled into my spirit that they were disciples because Jesus said so.

Early on in my ministry, I modeled what I'd seen on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights: preaching to the crowd and standing in prayer with those who wanted hands laid on them for the altar call. 

What I didn't see happening (because I had a job and couldn't hang out at the church all day, everyday) was the process of what happened to those who had made a decision for Christ: how were they processing sanctification? Did they even know what that word meant? How were they engaging with Jesus throughout the week and not just living from Sunday to Sunday? These were just some of the questions I had.

It was when I decided to quit my job, move 5 hours away from my family, and become a U.S. Missionary with Chi Alpha that I learned what discipleship looked like.

There were two parts to this discipleship model that will stick with me as long as I'll live. If I were  hired on at a church, I would want to ask if these two parts exist. If they didn't, I would negotiate my job description to include the development of these two parts. That is how important these two things are for me.

1. Small Groups

I was first exposed to being in a small group by leading one. As an intern with Chi Alpha, there were minimal job roles I took on—one of them being a Small Group Leader.

I, along with two student leaders, led a group of nine sophomore men. These meetings were held on another day during the week, apart from our weekly large group gatherings. 

As a leader, I was responsible for three things: leading a bible study, being a community facilitator, and providing mentorship in a one-on-one setting with a handful of guys from the group.

The small group night itself taught me to facilitate, not preach, the bible study. For me, this was brand new because I'd never seen this modeled before growing up. I had to be okay with the hanging silence when one of us leaders asked a question and no one made a move to answer. I had to make the room feel less awkward when one of the guys would ask a question that I felt everyone should know who had spent anytime at all in the church.

The small group taught me that life can be an adventure and that we don't have to have our noses in the Bible 24/7 to learn more about Jesus (though, it is a good place to find him). Through community, I saw elements of the guys in my small group that I did not perceive when we were in our bible study. One of the guys was a huge Pokemon fan. Another guy loved to be crafty (he made a ping pong table out of chicken wire and four desks once). Yet another loved to be at the gym and would constantly be marinating chicken to get his protein intake throughout the week.

Community exposed me to these guys in a way that I recognized that God does not make us the same. His creativity allows us to be different in healthy manners that reflect His nature.

Speaking of community, I'll never forget one of the events we did as a small group...

(Part 2 of this post can be found here: http://bit.ly/29KZKsd) 

Published on July 14, 2016. • Short Link: http://bit.ly/29Gm91o

 

Reflections on Five Years

Author Info: Blane has served on staff at AU Chi Alpha for several years and became the Director in the Fall of 2014. This New Mexico native is a proud graduate of the University of Alabama but has fallen in love with the big city. He and his wife (Hannah) moved to DC to complete the DC Chi Alpha CMIT Program under Mike & Jen Godzwa. They are parents to a pretty amazing toddler, Jeremiah. You'll find him biking around DC in search of a coffee by day and pouring over a book by night. You can find him at www.blaneyoung.com, and connect with him via our AU Chi Alpha Staff Page.

 

As many of you know, most of the staff from AU Chi Alpha and GU Chi Alpha recently attended a staff development conference called INCITE. For those that are Chi Alpha students, it’s basically SICM but for staff! 

One of the speakers was Dave Gable. He is seventy years young and has served as a pastor, Chi Alpha Staff and even the National Chi Alpha Director! Currently, he serves as an overseeing chaplain at the National Parks Service in California. He shared key moments, of success and failure, from over four decades of full-time ministry experience. He was one of those guys with a hundred stories and even more wisdom. He talked at length on the themes of cultivating the mind you want to have through Christ and creating habits that will help you forty years from now. Talk about perspective! 

I was also honored for five years of service to Chi Alpha. I can’t believe I’ve been at American University longer than I spent at my own school, the University of Alabama. What was even cooler, was that some friends of mine, Mark and Sue, were honored for twenty-five years of service to Chi Alpha! It makes me want to try and catch them! 

Due to Dave’s insightful sessions coupled with realizing that I’d reached one of my first longevity milestones (albeit five years isn’t that long!), I’ve begun to process some of what I’ve learned throughout the past five years. And like any helpful, slightly cheesy pastor, I thought I’d organize this post with that prayer framework that I seem to always be sharing with students – Jesus. Others. Yourself. 

Jesus

I’m constantly reminded that Jesus is both worthy of all of our praise and yet He’s a humble friend. He cares more about my ministry than I do and even more, cares more about my soul than my productivity. Of course, I would’ve agreed with all of these things five years ago, but I think they have really started to sink into my being, by the grace of God. 

I’ve also learned that He’s never let me down and He isn’t planning on starting now. I love this quote from Tim Keller, “We can be sure our prayers are answered precisely in the way we would want them to be answered if we knew everything God knows.” That sums it up so well, doesn't it? 

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I keep coming back to my favorite chapter in the Bible, James 4. If I draw near to Jesus, He will draw near to me. I always joke with students that if you ever come up to me for prayer at one of our worship services, I’ll likely pray that verse over you. And by likely, it’s pretty much guaranteed. Lately, however, I’ve been focusing on the second part of that verse which encourages us to check ourselves, so that we aren’t ‘double-minded’ in our expectations. In other words, ask confidently. Pray with anticipation. Seek God knowing that He will answer. I knew this was an area of my life that needed some work when I realized how big my prayers were for others yet how small they were for myself. 

I would pray that God would help new Chi Alpha CMITs (Interns) raise their budget, I would even boldly pray for monthly supports at $500 a month and for $1000 one-time gifts. Yet, when it came to my own finances (when I finally did pray), I would ask God for a $30 monthly supporter and even then, I asked half-heartedly! So, this verse has been so convicted but has also led me to walk hand-in-hand with the giver of all good things. 


Others

I’ve learned that boundaries are there to help me so that I can help others. They aren’t there to protect my heart but instead, to protect or ensure that I am always able to pick up the servant’s towel. 

This quote from Henry Cloud has been revolutionizing (I mean that!) my thinking and decision-making lately. “Some people are wise, some are fools, and some are are evil.” He’s basically talking about the types or roles that people can play in your organization, or team or community. For the longest time, I thought there were only two groups: right and wrong. Or to use his language, wise or evil. But then I realized that most of my life I spent as a ‘foolish’ Christian. One whose intentions were well-meaning but I was off the mark (in so many ways!). This has helped me in my mentoring and leadership because each of these different types of people (or it could be thought of as moods), needs a different approach. And what I love about this, is that we are called to minister to all people – regardless of their motives or mood. However, it’s difficult to serve someone when we don’t know where or how they are in need. Plus, if I don’t have a category for ‘foolish’ or ‘unlearned’ or ‘clueless’, then the stakes are so high every day. I love when people don’t know things, it is the perfect time and chance to share and teach! 

Yourself

Well, this should be “myself” but then the acronym falls apart, so, yeah. Anyways.

I’ve learned that I have limits (Jeremiah, my son, really helped me with that!). I’ve learned that it’s okay to not be okay but it’s not okay to stay there (I stole that from Matt Chandler). I’ve learned to ask for help, that what burdens me be a blessing for someone else. 

I’ve learned that I need to meet with a therapist often and take my medications daily. 

I’ve learned that God created me and wired me in a certain way, and I should embrace that and allow Him to sanctify parts of me that are messy and sinful. 

I’ve learned that leadership is the willingness to be misunderstood but I love being understood and liked, so that’s a daily tension. 

I’ve learned that I am surrounded by some of the brightest students in the world, and some of the most loving and amazing people in our staff team, city team and church partner network. 

I’ve learned that I married up. Hannah is the reason I’m still in Chi Alpha, she’s an anchor to me and a wonderful mother. (I’ve also learned I may never even get close to beating her at LetterPress.) 

I’ve learned that watching films with a friend is recharging, cooking is fun (when there isn’t a rush) and that I’ve become a coffee snob. 

Published on July 12, 2016 •  Short link: http://bit.ly/29C8QQF

9 Books To Read This Summer

Author Info: Josh is passionate about studying the Bible and having deep conversations with college students at American University and Georgetown University. In his spare time, he can be found with a book, a video game, or outdoors in a hammock, normally fueled by caffeine. You can connect with him via our AU Chi Alpha Staff Page. 

Growing up in south Georgia, the summer months were sweltering. However, almost on a weekly basis, there would be great thunderstorms that rolled through the area. When this happened, I would get out of the swimming pool, go inside and wait it out with a good book. Summer reading was never a problem for me, and I still find myself yearning for those times of listening to the rain and jumping into a literary adventure. 

This summer, I am reading through a few books for personal enjoyment and spiritual/leadership development. Here’s a few of the books that I would recommend adding to your reading list if you wanted to join in! 

1) “The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture” - Glen Weldon

In this book, Glen Weldon examines the cultural history of the Dark Knight, and why so many people in culture today identify with the Batman movement, and what it has to say about us. Totally worth your time, whether you are a comic book fan or not! 

2) “Mission at Nuremberg: An American Army Chaplain and the Trial of the Nazis” - Tim Townsend

This book tells the historical account of Henry Gerecke, an Army Chaplain who was assigned to minister to the twenty-one imprisoned Nazi leaders awaiting trial for crimes against humanity. If you are a history buff, this is definitely a must-read! 

3) “Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality” - Donald Miller

Donald Miller recounts his spiritual journey in this series of essays, offering a thought-provoking critique of the Christian institution, and arguing for an emotional experience with God. 

4) “Leaders Who Last” - Dave Kraft

In this book, Dave Kraft talks about healthy leadership in three main areas: Foundations, Formations, and Fruitfulness. This is a beneficial read for anyone in leadership, or even anyone who has a position of influence. 

5) “College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture” - Stephen Lutz

The university is one of the most strategic ministry fields in the world. This book is for those who are working or planning on working on a college campus, and Stephen Lutz addresses the challenges that campus ministers face in a post-Christian culture. 

6) “Steve Jobs” - Walter Isaacson

In this biography of the late Apple co-founder and CEO, Isaacson writes about the life of one of the greatest leaders of this decade. Many lessons on innovation, leadership, and character can be learned from the life of this visionary leader. 

7) “The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate” - John Walton

John Walton explores the human origin story in Genesis 2-3, endeavoring to discuss these events in light of the cultural and textual world of the ancient Near East. A thought provoking read as Walton explores the dichotomy of Christian theology and competing scientific claims. 

8) Emotionally Healthy Spirituality - Peter Scazzero

It is impossible to be spiritually mature if one is emotionally immature.  Scazzerro writes on his story and this integration of emotional health and Christian spirituality, and then offers seven biblical ways to break out of emotional distress and into the realm of emotionally healthy spirituality. 

9) “Jesus of Arabia: Understanding the Teachings of Christ through the Culture of the Arabian Gulf” - Andrew Thompson

“Jesus of Arabia” looks at the similarities and differences of Christianity and Islam from the context understood by a Middle Eastern audience. What did Jesus actually say? Andrew Thompson, chaplain at Abu Dhabi’s Anglican church, expounds upon the teachings of Jesus and their impact on the Middle East then, and now.

Published on July 5, 2016 • Short Link: http://bit.ly/29hUfqM

Water Your Own Garden

GUEST POST From time to time, we have special guests whose voices we totally love sharing with you. This is a post from Seth Collins, he is a bearded man with a heart of gold who currently serves on staff at Yale Chi Alpha. HIs wonderful wife Brooke, used to live in DC and work with Chi Alpha, so even as we root her on, we miss her deeply! You can follow him on Twitter and Medium. 

 

Water your own garden. And don’t preoccupy yourself with everyone else.

The trap of comparison makes it too easy for us to fall.

Have you ever compared your skills at public speaking to the likes of Steve Jobs? Simon Sinek?

Have you ever compared your guitar playing to that of Prince (God rest his soul)?

What about comparing your marriage to the neighbors across the street?

Face it, we’ve all been there. We’ve all thought, “If I just had Kenny’s job position, THEN I could really provide for my family,” “If I could play guitar like John Mayer, THEN I could really be noticed by recording studios.” etc. etc.

Can I offer a suggestion? Have you ever looked at what YOU have: your position in your company? Your family at home and your role in the family? If not, take a good hard look because where you are and what you have around you can be built up into something amazing and wonderful…

…only if you have the patience, the fortitude, and the dream to see it happen.

Love your spouse with all that is in you. Go on dates. Do the things that made them fall in love with you once again. Verbally tell them how much you care for them and how appreciative you are of them.

When you clock in for work, be all there. Give 100% to your job, your boss, your co-workers. Be a person that affects positive change rather than one who speaks negativity.

And (for sake of title), what can you plant in your own front yard? Sure, the Thompsons may have an immaculate yard, but that doesn’t mean your yard has to suck. Plant some rose bushes. Put a tree down. Tend your own garden instead of complaining about what others are doing.

Because, at the end of the day, you don’t have jurisdiction how another person prospers, but you do have say-so over what happens in your own life.

Carpe diem, folks. Carpe diem.

Originally published on Medium on May 13, 2016. Republished here (with permission) on July 1, 2016. 

Short Link: http://bit.ly/297v3TT